Ridgecrest Police layout department’s necessities

Police Chief Ron Strand took the seat Monday to ask as part of a council city budget strategy session on the upcoming 2013-2014 fiscal year.

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By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Mar. 13, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Updated Mar 13, 2013 at 1:48 PM

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Mar. 13, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Updated Mar 13, 2013 at 1:48 PM

City department heads took the seat Monday to ask as part of a council city budget strategy session on the upcoming 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Police Chief Ron Strand was the first one to brief the council on his goals and field any questions the members might have as his department represented the largest part of the general fund budget from year-to-year.

Strand said overall his department had an approximate budget of $6.2 million or 56 percent of the General Fund, with $4.9 million of that secured for payroll.

Councilman Jim Sanders asked if there had been a study done on what would constitute an optimal police force for a community the size of Ridgecrest.

Strand said the information has been available for decades, especially among FBI studies.

“If you start on the East Coast, you have 2.5 to 3 officers per 1,000 people,” Strand said. “As you go across the United States to the West Coast, you get anywhere from 1 to 1.5 officers depending on the city.”

He said factors depended on city size and the economic status and needs of the community, with Ridgecrest fielding about on the lower side of officers per 1,000 people.

He said when the Measure L general sales tax passed in June, he was looking at heading toward a 33-man police force, but indicated he was slowing down the process of hiring two officers.

Ridgecrest currently has 31 police officers on its force for a population of 26,000, Strand said, and had been directed to slow the hiring process just to see where the city was budget-wise.

“My minimum number really has to do with what is the most effective amount of the officers I can field on the street to keep my overtime costs down and still be able answer our 911 emergency calls as efficiently as possible, while still being able to follow up on major cases like murders, rapes and the like,” Strand said. Other flexibilities including having enough to cover traffic duties and proactive police work on known felons.

“If all we are doing is answering calls for service and not putting pressure on that segment of population that we know has dispensation, then all we're doing is spinning our wheels,” Strand said.

He said for him an optimal force would include fielding 1 sergeant and 3 officers on a given shift, largely based on the city's geographic location, and spending a lot of time on transporting people to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, and prisoner transport.

He said the police force could do the best it could with what it had, indicating it was problematic at best if civilians were contracted out for transport work.

He said the police department also had to juggle a profession where there included risk of injury, and had to account for training and vacation time as well.

Page 2 of 3 - Sanders asked if the chief had a feel for what other cities were going through with the passage of Assembly Bill 109, the prison realignment law that effectively shunted very low-risk offenders into county and local control.

Strand said it depends on the county and the jail capacity of any given law enforcement agency. Kern County was under a federal mandate for 10 years to maintain a certain cap, and once the number was reached they had to “start feeding people out the back gate.”

He said Kern County Sheriff's Department was near capacity and effectively established a revolving door effect.

Strand said his department still operated a model that held people accountable for violent crimes and property theft. While the city had seen an overall reduction in violent crimes last year, it saw an increase in property-related crimes.

“The problem is under this model, no one is being held accountable because there is no place to house these folks,” Strand said.

Councilwoman Lori Acton asked if there were any other viable solution to handle the situation.

Strand said his department was engaged in a multi-faceted approach, especially with Teen Court.

“We are trying to slow down the number of people who are engaged in criminal justice system,” he said. He said that RPD also works with schools as well, curtailing any cultivation of gangs.

Vice Mayor Chip Holloway fielded the hypothetical question of why the community shouldn't just contract out with Kern County Sheriff's department for police work.

Strand said the city already operates a flat organization in part to remain competitive. He indicated that the Sheriff's department maintained a higher cost and were paid more, but was a viable option if the city wanted to cut costs.

The short side would be less police coverage for a organization that might cover a large swath of territory.

“The problem is you lose local control,” Strand said. “You may have a lieutenant out here that lives in Bakersfield and may come out here four or five days a week.”

Holloway asked what it would look like if the city asked the county to close one fire station from the safety perspective, but Strand declined to answer.

Strand said RPD tried to remain competitive for a city Ridgecrest's size, based in part on a highly mobile career. One reason why he tried hiring locally was to ensure a better return of investment for training and maintain a better retention rate.

Mayor Dan Clark asked what RPD's effectiveness would be if the city cut $728,000 from the budget and Measure L wasn't available.

Page 3 of 3 - Strand indicated the city would be down to 25 officers, with the ability to field one sergeant and two or three officers on any given shift. Overtime would go through the roof, response times would go down, investigations would be compromised and it would curtail proactive policing.

Holloway said one of the reasons RPD was so successful was the proactive policing. He said he had seen similar impacts in Stockton based on observations.

Strand said the police department had upwards of 17,000 hours of volunteer time per year through PACT, CERT and Youth Explorer programs that helped the city effectively.

Patin asked if the chief planned on reinvesting in a code enforcement officer. Ridgecrest resident Tom Wiknich currently volunteers his time through PACT for code enforcement, with other duties assumed by Capt. Paul Wheeler.

Strand said he would like to refund a code enforcement position, as it was a useful tool to keep the community looking nice.

During public comment, Ridgecrest resident George “Andy” Anderson related his experience in living in a Navy housing complex in San Diego. The Navy had at one time contracted out to county and city law enforcement agencies for service that also served a civilian area.

Anderson pointed out the police always answered calls from the civilian area first, and public safety declined in his complex until the Navy took over.

If the city decided to contract out its police services, the “crime rate will go through the roof.”

Mike Neel said it was unfair to compare Ridgecrest to Stockton, given the latter's size and significantly higher crime rate.

Neel also indicated that if the police department did not take a cut, the city would have to find other areas to cut.

Howard Auld suggested looking at not only personnel but the overall indirect cost.